Gold Rush

Liparo, Greece. The village, where photographer Petros Efstathiadis was born, has been the setting of his work for a decade. There, in his surrounding fields, he carefully composes minute mise-en-scène, made of leftovers and disregarded goods. This time, the large-scale and ephemeral sculptures set the decor for a 21st century Goldrush. His land had been selected to host a tiny piece of a new gas pipeline from Azerbaijan. Petros Efstathiadis brings back to birth, from this very soil, buildings and machines from the time of Californian Gold Rush. One would recognize some familiar figures, iconic pictures from an era of great expectations and deceived hopes – a church reminiscent of Walker Evans’ Alabama decrepit façades. And if the typical pioneer austerity arises here, we discover which other resource the land holds for sure: Efstathiadis theatrical and delightful sense of fantasy.